Aaron Rodgers can smile at the numbers he’s putting up this season

Chris Zolli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @thezman2010.

Another week of NFL games is in the books and there continues to be great performances that litter the league. The Broncos may have found a new running back in C.J. Anderson and his 167 yard performance solidifies that, Tony Romo’s four touchdowns keep him in the MVP race, and the dual threat skills of Russell Wilson keep the Seahawks in the NFC West race. These statistical outputs are quality, but may not be the most important trends of the week. As the fantasy playoffs near, owners need to follow these trends and use them as advisement for their fantasy lineups.

10:1: Aaron Rodgers’ touchdown to interception ratio this season

Rodgers has been impressive this entire season; in fact, the statistics he’s accrued since Week 4 are truly amazing. In the past eight games, he has completed 68.3% of his passes, averaging 288 yards per game and 25 touchdowns with only two interceptions. Rodgers has also averaged 9.4 yards per attempt and has turned both Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson into top 5 fantasy WRs. The parallels between Aaron Rodgers past eight games and the last four games of Peyton Manning’s 2013 season are similar and fantasy owners would love if Rodgers continues on Manning’s pace; Manning had 26 touchdowns and four interceptions in that time period, completing 65.3% of his passes. As we compare Rodgers to other accurate quarterbacks like Drew Brees or Manning, the key difference is volume of passes; while each quarterback has a completion percentage over 65%, Rodgers averages 32.7 passes per game over the past five years while Brees and Manning average 41.2 and 40 passes per game respectively. What is impressive with that difference in volume of passes is that Rodgers has averaged 2.4 passing touchdowns per game over that time, which compares favorably with Manning’s 2.7 and is equal to Brees’ 2.4. Furthermore, Rodgers’ interception % is 1.6%, lower than both Manning’s 2% and Brees’ 2.4%. Rodgers is the top QB in football and his efficiency is what makes him so valuable.

11.66: Average number of targets Josh Gordon has received his last 15 games

Josh Gordon was suspended for the first ten games of the 2014 and another two games in 2013, but when he has been on the field, there hasn’t been a more valuable fantasy WR option. Gordon’s two most valuable assets are that the Browns are willing to throw him the ball and that Gordon’s targets are on deep routes. He has a career yards per catch of 17.7 and had five games last year where he had at least 75 receiving yards and a 20+ yards per catch average. Where Gordon needs to develop is his catch to target ratio, which is 53.5% for his career. Again, this is more of an opportunity for Gordon than a weakness considering his targets per game; in the eight games where Gordon was over 95 receiving yards last year, he only hauled in 57.6% of the passes targeted to him. As he develops more rapport with quarterback Brian Hoyer, Gordon should post even better numbers. Considering that the Browns offense has been solid this year without Gordon and that he was targeted 16 times in his first game back (8 receeptions for 120 yards), look for Gordon to be a top 5 WR for the remainder of the 2014 season.

87: Yards per game Odell Beckham Jr. averages (most of any rookie)

The rookie wide receiver class of 2014 is truly an elite class, but it’s clear to see who is at the top of this class. Mike Evans, Sammy Watkins, and Kelvin Benjamin may all have Pro Bowls in their future, but Odell Beckham Jr. is the best receiver in this year’s group. Beckham truly distinguishes himself with one statistic: his ability to catch balls targeted to him. Evans, Watkins, and Benjamin catch 59.7%, 53.5%, and 53% of passes targeted to them; Beckham’s 69.4% target to catch percentage is more in line with Pro Bowl players like Antonio Brown at 71.5%, Randall Cobb at 73.4% and better than Demaryius Thomas at 66.1%. Beckham may not have the size of Evans or Benjamin, but his 14.9 yards per catch is quite respectable and his past four games are extremely productive. Since becoming the WR1 for the Giants after the bye week in Week 9, Beckham has averaged 11 targets and 8 receptions a game with 503 yards and two touchdown catches. Beckham will face a Titans defense that is 11th against the pass this season, but look for him to break free and be a solid low-end WR1 or WR2 option.

5.0: Timothy Wright’s last five games with a reception have included a touchdown

When the Patriots traded the stable, Pro Bowl caliber Logan Mankins to the Buccaneers for a backup tight end in the preseason, many people doubted the team. The Patriots have used that backup tight end, Timothy Wright, as a true situational threat and he has been amazingly productive in his time with the team. In the 14 games that Wright was a participant with the Buccaneers last season, he averaged 5.4 targets per game, catching 54 passes for 571 yards and five touchdowns, showing that he was an efficient receiver that made the most of his opportunities. This season, though, Wright has been targeted 26  times and caught 23 of those passes, for a 88.4% target to catch ratio, and has six touchdowns already. In fact, in two seperate times this year, Wright has caught five or more passes where he caught all of the passes targeted to him. The Patriots also have found him in the red zone, surprising considering that the Patriots have an elite receiving TE in Rob Gronkowski. Teams have loaded up on Gronkowski in the red zone and quarterback Tom Brady has found Wright often in loose to little coverage, proving that he is a matchup nightmare for teams. Wright is not consistent enough to pick up and start every week, but if you have him already, he always has the potential to score a touchdown in red zone packages. Also, and this should not be understated, the Patriots frequently are in packages where they’re in a situational advantage, and a receiving tight end like Wright who catches most passes targeted to him is a lethal target for the team.

80: Only DeMarco Murray, Arian Foster, Le’Veon Bell, and Justin Forsett average 80 or more rushing yards per game (min: 150 carries)

Running back tandems have become so strong that these four running backs’ statistical outputs, mark the lowest amount of running backs with 80 or more rushing yards per game in the past decade. There were a similar number of bulk carriers last year with four- LeSean McCoy, Jamaal Charles, Adrian Peterson, and Matt Forte – further displaying that teams split carries frequently and that passing has taken over the league. From 2004-2007, there were 10 or more running backs with 80 or more rushing yards per game. This is not to say there are not other valuable running backs as well; Forte has added 72 receptions to his 822 rushing yards and Marshawn Lynch has nine rushing touchdowns.Even with these four running backs as benchmarks for this season, both Bell and Foster have huge question marks. Foster has missed three and a half games this season and Bell has had more games where he was under 75 yards rushing (5) than over 100 yards rushing (3). DeMarco Murray’s value cannot be overstated enough, but in this era of running back by committee and the lack of stable options, Murray’s streak of ten 100 yard rushing games in his 11 games this season is truly an impressive statistic. After Monday night’s game, Justin Forsett now averages 5.8 yards per carry and has twelve rushes of 20 yards or more! Those are the top numbers for any running back in the league and he has easily become one of the top fantasy pickups in 2014.